Obama ‘Confident’ Spying Programs Not Being Abused

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WASHINGTON, District of Columbia (AFP) – U.S. President Barack Obama said Friday he is “confident” that vast surveillance programs are not being abused but admitted that Americans have “legitimate” concerns.

“We do have to do a better job of giving people confidence in how these programs work,” Obama told CNN in an interview.

“I’ve said I am open to working with Congress to figure out, can we get more transparency in terms of how the oversight court works, do we need a public advocate who people have confidence in.

“But we’ve also got to do it in a way that recognizes we have hostile folks out there that will potentially try to do us harm.”

The administration has scrambled to defend spying programs in the wake of revelations by Edward Snowden, a former I.T. contractor at the U.S. National Security Agency who leaked details of the surveillance to British and American newspapers.